In Power of Capital: An Adventure Capitalist’s Journey to a Sustainable Future, distinguished author and Chief Investment Officer at Global Delta Capital, Asha Mehta, shares a simultaneously daring and heartening exploration of rapidly evolving emerging markets. Delivering equal doses of business discussion and geopolitical insight, the author examines the changes gripping the globe and why the average person - and investor - should care.
The book provides an on-the-ground perspective informed by the author’s personal experiences and visits to far-flung regions of the world. It also shares incisive commentary on issues crucial to continuing global economic growth, including terrorism and instability, corruption and autocracy, and sustainable investing.
Power of Capital offers: - Illuminating insights of China’s new role as a global economic powerhouse - Pioneering perspectives of how sustainable investing delivers both alpha and impact - Explorations of how globalization and technology disrupt companies and sectors - In-depth discussions of data’s new and central role as the primary store and creator of value in the modern economy - The case for women as the greatest emerging market in the world
A page-turning read from a singular and worldly generational leader, Power of Capital: An Adventure Capitalist’s Journey to a Sustainable Future offers a unique and thought-provoking trip to the globe’s most fascinating emerging markets.
Table of Contents
Adventure Capital: An Introduction 1
What Is an Emerging Market? 2
Power of Capital 4
Technology: AI for Alpha and Impact 6
What Does the Future Hold? 8
1 What Is an Emerging Market?: China: The Opportunities and Risks Within the World’s Second-Largest Economy 11
She Will Shake the World 13
Hot Stocks in the Heart of Capital 14
All Rules Are Off 17
Trade War or Tech War 19
Sino- Sustainability: How China Went Woke 22
The Next Center of the Universe 25
2 Gem on the Pacific Rim: Vietnam: From a War-Torn Past to a Sizzling Future 27
The Fall of Saigon 28
Dairy Queen: Innovation in the South Pacific 30
Turbulence 33
The Silver- Tongued Minister 36
Environmental and Social Risks at the Red River Delta 38
His Eyes Are Always Watching 41
3 Global Flows: Spotlight on Saudi Arabia: The Greatest Story That Nobody Knows 43
The Commodities Rut 46
Woman in a Strange Land 49
Opening the Doors 51
Crown’s Jewel 55
Gleam of Success 58
4 Submerging Markets? Corruption and Autocracy: Romania’s Unexpected Rise and the Role of Capital Markets 61
A Sinister Beauty 63
From Hard Communism to Hard Capitalism 66
Sustainable Markets 69
Financial Returns and Financial Inclusion 71
Biutiful Bucharest 73
Castle in the Sky? 75
5 Terrorism and Instability: When Markets Become Uninvestable: North Africa and the Middle East 77
Buying When There’s Blood in the Streets 80
Capital as a Weapon of War 83
The Cost of Divestment 85
Investing in Change 87
The Long Road Out of the Ruins 88
6 Harnessing Domestic-Driven Demand: India’s Unique Opportunity for Sustainable Growth 91
Microfinance: The Original Impact Investing 93
Responsible Investing Is Born 97
Clear Skies Behind the Smog 100
SDG Integration and the Role of Technology 103
Transforming Wonderland 106
7 Data Is the New Oil: Africa Needs (Venture Funding), China Feeds (Seed Capital) 109
East Africa’s Silicon Savannah 110
Powered Up in South Africa 114
Africa Needs, China Feeds 118
Can Crypto Save Nigeria? 123
From Gray to Green: Data Is the Oil 126
8 Twenty-First-Century Investing: Transforming Economies and Livelihoods from Bogotá to Brasilia 129
Doing Good and Doing Well in Colombia 130
The Role of Business in Argentina’s Society 135
From Destruction to Disruption in Brazil 139
Chile: Accelerating into the Future 143
Greenlighting Latin America 146
9 The Next Half: The Queens of Wall Street: The Largest Emerging Market Is Women 149
Vast Segment with Productive Capacity 150
Whispers of Opportunity 152
Untapped Potential 155
Structural Barriers 159
Why Now? 162
Queens of Wall Street 167
Conclusion 171
Fellow Travelers 173
Money Changes Everything 175
Reimagined Capitalism 177
Mint and Honey 178
Notes 181
Acknowledgments 195
About the Author 197
Index 199
